


Queen and the Well

by DrabblingSparks (ingenious_spark)



Series: Saint Seiya prompts & short fic [185]
Category: Saint Seiya
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Character Study, Drabble, Existential Dread, Gen, Horror, Introspection, Long Live Feedback Comment Project, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-15 17:18:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18674065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ingenious_spark/pseuds/DrabblingSparks
Summary: Queen is sent to guard the well.The well that has been there since as long as anyone can remember.





	Queen and the Well

**Author's Note:**

> From a list of prompts over on my tumblr, [@oopsbirdficced](http://oopsbirdficced.tumblr.com). I am open for prompts currently, and will be closing prompts on Monday, May 6, 2019. [I accept anonymous prompts!](https://oopsbirdficced.tumblr.com/post/184578439744/opening-normalhoroscopes-prompts)
> 
> The prompts are all written by normal_horoscopes over on tumblr! I encourage you to check them out!

_(Ophiuchus: The well that was here before everything.)_

The well has always been there. They say it will be there until the end of days and beyond. The well is eternal, unchanging, though it looks like any other well. Unremarkable. Inviting. Dangerously so.

It’s a simple construction of stone and wood, with a dilapidated bucket for collecting water. The rope has no crank, it must be lowered and pulled back up by hand.

_(No one ever collects water)_

They say it eats people- the curious, the lost. That’s why it must be guarded. Queen thinks it’s a trap. He’s been assigned to guard this place, but he is an inquisitive being himself. He thinks, perhaps, this might be someone’s desire to be rid of him made manifest.

Curiosity gnaws at him like a living thing, etched into his bones. He tries to ignore it, but it’s difficult, to say the least.  

Valentine had been worried, when he’d told Queen his posting. Queen had been able to see it in the lines around his eyes, and the set of his mouth. Rhadamanthys had been angry, which means that these orders had come from higher up. His shoulders had rolled and flexed, and Queen swears he could hear his teeth creaking from how hard he had clenched his jaw. Sylphid, oddly enough, had been afraid. Queen could tell by the harsh admonishments to be careful, the way he couldn’t stand still. Gordon had been worried as well, impotent anger lurking under the veneer of concern. He had rested a hand on Queen’s shoulder, squeezing gently.

None of this makes Queen’s guard duty any easier. He stands with his back to the well, warning away travellers. He’s doing well. He thinks deeply about other things, instead of the well at his back. What he’s going to have for lunch. How much he needs to clean up his living quarters- they’re terribly cluttered right now, and he wants more space.

How worried and angry, scared and concerned his compatriots- his friends- had been when they heard of this posting, knowing Queen’s curiosity. How devastated they will be if he fails to come home.

Still curiosity wraps tender green feelers around his limbs, buries them in the back of his mind saying - _‘what harm will a glance do? Just a peek.’_

All the harm in the world, it seems, piled up behind him in a terrible, innocent form. He grits his teeth and steadies himself, imagines rooting those tender feelers of curiosity deep into the earth, where he will not budge.

He almost makes it to the end of his last shift.

Finally he can take it no longer. His limbs move almost without him directing them, dragged by those curious tendrils.

And he peers into the well.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the LLF Comment Project, which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * Constructive criticism
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
>   * Comments not in English
> 

> 
> LLF Comment Builder
> 
> This author replies to comments. It might take a few days/weeks depending on how busy I am, but you will receive a reply.
> 
> If you don’t want a reply, for any reason, feel free to sign your comment with “whisper” and I will respond only with an emoji! I will respond only because I have some compulsive tendencies towards replying to comments.


End file.
